I hve the PA1x and m really keen on getting some better pianos on it as the korg stock piano is not great. please listen to these links and tell me if you think these pianos designed for the Pax sound

1. good
2. reasonble
3. great

I know its subjective but i would still like an opinion before i shell out some cash. I am prticulrly intersted in EXB 4

Cheers

Spalding
http://www.pa1xpro.de/korg_audio_video_demos.htm

As always, pianos are subjective, but that EXB4 piano is a dog..... dull, no sustain, weird jumps in timbre, the only thing that could make it acceptable is comparison to the abysmal on-board piano!

Have you considered an outboard rack or module? A used Roland XV2020 or similar would allow you to access their SRX-11 Complete Piano soundboard, probably one of the best hardware pianos out there.

Alternatively, how about looking at the sampled pianos for Akai (some may have already been converted for Korg) and use the 32MB of sample RAM you have.

While the PA800 and Oasys have shown that finally Korg are starting to understand how to sample a piano better, these older efforts (EXB-4) show how far they needed to go.

Don't forget about still listening to ALL available sampled pianos at http://www.purgatorycreek.com/index.html to get a direct, apples to apples comparison. Eye-opening.....

Hello Spalding
To my ears they seem to lack the true sound of a piano. (Too hollow)
Another option to consider is the use of Akai samples (The largest studio quality sample library on the planet) as according to the PA1x brochure they can be loaded in. (Just be careful of sample size as some of the better ones can be up to 128Mb in size, and there may be larger ones)
Do a Google search for Akai Piano Samples (Many have demos) and see what’s available, that are suitable for your PA1x.
Hope this helps

Bill

My dad was a fine educated pianist. He was also head piano tuner for Wurlitzer pianos on 43 street in New York City. I stayed with his trade.

I’m betting my taste in piano sounds would be different than yours—not better, just different.

John C.

But Bruno...... what did YOU think of the EXB-4 piano?

Yes, everybody's opinion will be different, but the more Spalding hears, the more he can get a consensus (if there is one!)

Didn't Irishacts just post about a Korg 32MB set that he had ported to the T2? Perhaps Spalding could take a listen to that one? Other notable small piano sample sets might be William Coakley's, and EastWest..... (I like their Fazioli set).

thanks Diki. I did have the Irish Acts Pax1 piano sample but it just didnt sound like the pianos i am used to. If you can pos a link to some samples that would work within he pax sample ram limitation (32mb) that would be really helpfull

cheers

Anymore comments people on the links i posted for the EXB 4 ?

What kind of pianos ARE you interested in?

In all fairness, most modern hardware pianos like G70/E80, T2 etc., use 64MB or more of uncompressed ROM, to allow for four or more levels of velocity switching. 32MB may be insufficient if you want something to rival those.

My first advice still stands..... an outboard rack module. Kurzweil make an inexpensive one that's got a great piano, Roland's FantomXR, Yamaha's MotifES rack are more expensive, but VERY powerful sound sources not just for pianos, any Roland module that has SRX slots can add the amazing SRX-11 piano (go to the Purgatory Creek site for demos of all of these sounds).

In fact, go to the Purgatory Creek site, listen to all the hardware pianos (those soft pianos are amazing, but you'll need at least a laptop to run them!) and post back here which ones blew you away, and then we'll have a better idea of what you are looking for....

Incidentally, adding a Piano board to the PA1X will involve as much work reworking the styles and setups as just using an outboard unit, so it is still what I would recommend...

i like the Steinway and Bosendorfer pianos. I am of to purgatory creek to have a listen...i may be some time !

Hello Spalding
Just wondering if you managed to find some suitable Piano samples yet, and if so which did you finally plump for?

Bill

For the Pa1X owners that have not heard it yet: When Korg releases OS 3.0 they will include additional piano sounds and samples similar to the ones in the Pa800 and the C-series pianos. Read the news here .

I think that the pianos in the Pa800 sound good and much better than what we are used to from Korg. I have recordings of the Purgatory Creek MIDI-file with two of the Pa800 pianos. If there is interest I could probably find a place to upload them. I have already sent them to Purgatory Creek, but unfortunately the site is not updated very often.

Kind regards,
Tommy

[This message has been edited by TommyF (edited 12-28-2006).]

I have uploaded the Purgatory Creek recordings of the Korg Pa800 RX pianos to esnips.com:

Grand Piano RX

Bright Piano RX

I have not made any changes to the sounds nor the effects. The recording and conversion to MP3 was done with Wavelab and an EMU 1212m sound card.

Please let me know if you have any problems listening to the recordings. esnips.com could be a great way to share our recordings. It took only a few minutes to setup a free account and upload the files.

Kind regards,
Tommy

I only listened to the concert pianos on demo 4

to me, they were bad, too much effect, and/or muddy. and the shmaltzy playing styles were making them hard to evaluate--

but i think CONCERT PIANO #2 is a pretty good sound..

if there's one good piano you really like, that's all
you need, right?



------------------
Miami Mo

still need some help. I have been trying to fi nd a decent piano sample or expansion board for my Pax. I am struggling as i cant find a sample i like that fits the 32 mb max sample size on the pax. I have heard some 16mb pianos by Wiliam Coakley from his "perfect piano Series" but cant determine if they are compatible with the Pax. I have gone right back to the original manufacturer whos link i started this topic with as i have grown to like the piano sounds however they are such a small company that they dont have paypal or the ability to accept credit cards. they are based in Germnany and want me to deposit the money in their account in Euros and then they will forward the expansion board. This sounds like a very unorthordox way to take payment and i am not comfortable in doing this. does anyone have any ideas about getting better piano samples within the 32mb limitation that would work with my pax ? Are there any pax owners here that have acquired better piano samples than the stock korg ones ?

Spalding4,

Did you listen to the Pa800 piano sounds? Korg will make these pianos available for the Pa1X in February when they release OS 3.0.

You should also consider the Piano Evolution sample set that you can buy for only €20 over at www.irishacts.com.

Kind regards,
Tommy

Thanks Tommy i have heard that the 03 operating system will have included the pa800 piano and thats certainly better than the stock piano.I already have sharps piano evolution and to be honest i think it sounds worse than the piano assault. The sound is really muffled and soaked in reverb effect. Has very little middle or bottom end to it and i simply cannot use it.

Maybe i will have to just wait and see what the piano on the pa800 sounds like when i get the latest OS upgrade